In many fields, it is important to be able to provide secure access to encrypted information. This can be achieved by providing decryption facilities to decrypt the encrypted information. Although this works well for information stored on magnetic disk drives, and the like, it is not so useful for information stored on removable storage devices, such as CD-ROMs, DVDs, SD cards, and the like. This is because many file system encryption schemes do not support removable storage devices.
Decryption logic would normally be held on a terminal that reads removable storage devices. However, for removable storage devices this would mean that all files would require to have the same encryption technology as that required by the reading terminal. To support a different encryption technology would require a change at the reading terminal. This would require modification or replacement of the file system drivers, which is a time-consuming task.
Furthermore, many file system encryption schemes are user-specific, so they require a user to login to access the decrypted information. This may not be appropriate for terminals that are used by multiple individuals.
It would be advantageous to have a system for decrypting information stored on removable storage devices.